Seven years ago, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who is now the Democrat leader in the House of Representatives, signed on as cosponsor to a bill that would have prohibited preventing biological males from using women's restrooms and locker rooms.

Titled the "Equality Act," it stated that "an individual shall not be denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity."

"The term 'gender identity,'" said this proposed law, "means the gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, regardless of the individual's designated sex at birth."

At the time, Jeffries was joined by 236 other House Democrats in cosponsoring this bill, which passed the House on May 17, 2019, by a 236-173 vote. It went nowhere in the Republican-controlled Senate — but Jeffries and his Democratic colleagues did not give up on this cause.

On June 15, 2022, he joined Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) in sending a letter to Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), who was then chair of the House Administration Committee. This letter urged her to support creating transgender-friendly restroom facilities in the Capitol and House office buildings.

"All employees, interns, and visitors should have access to safe and comfortable restrooms," Jeffries and Clark wrote. "For members of the transgender, gender nonconforming and disability communities, that often means the availability of........

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